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FOURTH  ANNUAL  REPORT 


OF  THE 


AlAMEDA  COUNTY  DEPARTMENT 


OF  THE 


OAEAND  FREE  LIBRARY 


FOR    THE    FISCAL    YEAR    1913-1914 
OAKLAND.  CALIFORNIA 


\  fM.-'i>^ 


FOURTH   ANNUAL   REPORT 


OF   THE 


ALAMEDA  COUNTY  DEPARTMENT 


OF  THE 


OAKLAND  FREE  LIBRARY 


FOR    THE    FISCAL    YEAR    1913-1914 
OAKLAND,  -  CALIFORNIA 


ALAMEDA  COUNTY  DEPARTMENT 
OAKLAND  FREE  LIBRARY 


BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS  OF  ALAMEDA  COUNTY 

JOHN  F.  MULLINS  F.  W.  FOSS 

W.  B.  BRIDGE  J.  M.  KELLEY 

DANIEL  J.  MURPHY 


*5^   */• 


BOARD  OF   DIRECTORS 
OF   THE  OAKLAND  FREE   LIBRARY 

Term 
Expires. 

FRANK  M.  PARCELLS 318  Lee    St 1919 

President 

SAMUEL   HUBBARD 244  Montecito    Ave 1920 

JOHN  W.   EVANS 604  E.   14th  St 1915 

GARY   HOWARD 328  29th   St 1916 

SAM  BELL  McKEE 225  Vernon   St 1917 

GHARLES  S.  GREENE,  Librarian  and  Secretary  of  the  Board. 
MARY  BARMBY,  Ghief  of  Department. 


9^ 


STAFF  OF  COUNTY   DEPARTMENT 
JULY  1,   1914 


COUNTY  DEPARTMENT. 

Mary  Barmby _ , Chief 

Jean  D.  Baird First  Assistant 

Ethel'bert  Jerome  _ Assistant 


COUNTY  BRANCHES. 

Albany  E.  S.  Hamilton,  Attendant 

Rosa  E.  Diehl,        Janitor 

Altamont   _ T.  M.  E^ran,  Attendant 

Alvarado   Albert  Norris,  Attendant 

Alviso - F.  M.  George,  Attendant 

Centerville Mabel  Yates,  Attendent 

Decoto Elizabeth  Williams,  Attendant 

Dublin   W.  S.  Lawrence,  Attendant 

Hayward - Elizabeth  Creelman,  Attendant 

Irvington    Josephine  Blacow,  Attendant 

Livermore Myrtle  Harp,  Attendant 

Mission  San  Jose  Dr.  T.  A.  Nichols,  Attendant 

Mt.  Eden  Sophie  Engelund,  Attendant 

Newark _ Mabel  Fowler,  Attendant 

Niles  E.  M.  Nichols,  Attendant 

Pleasanton   S.  A.  Young,  Attendant 

San  Lorenzo  M.  E.  Brommage,  Attendant 

Sunol - Mary  Buttner,  Attendant 

Warm  Springs Joseph  Brown,  Attendant 


M110723 


FINANCIAL  STATEMENT 


Balance,  of  which  $197.77  was  held  in  trust  for  schools $      299.15 

RECEIPTS. 

Received  from  County  Treasurer,  July  1,  1913,  to  June  30,  1914,  at 

$1250.00  per  month  for  5  months  and  $1500.00  for  7  months $16,750.00 

Received  from  Albany 30.00 

Overdraft  due  Oakland  Free  Library 4.24 

$17,083.39 
EXPENDITURES. 

Salaries    $  6,801.31 

Books    5,164.56 

Binding    236.55 

Printing     89.75 

Furniture    606.85 

Express    121.37 

Traveling    198.05 

Office  Supplies   128.62 

Periodicals     692.03 

Views  and  Pictures    374.20 

Messenger     32.97 

Building  and  Repair 119.62 

Light  and  Heat   102.51 

Rent    258.00 

Incidentals    110.75 

Janitor 46.25 

For  Use  of  Oakland  Library 2.000.00 

$17,083.39 


REPORT    OF    THE    ALAMEDA   COUNTY 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  OAKLAND 

FREE  LIBRARY 


To  the  Honorable  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Oakland  Free  Library — 

Gentlemen:  The  fourth  annual  report  of  the  County  Library  work  in 
Alameda  County,   is   hereby  presented. 

Library  work  has  been  carried   on  in  Alameda   County   since  November, 

1910,  under  a  contract  entered  into  between  the  County  of  Alameda  through 
its  Board  of  Supervisors,  and  the  Oakland  Free  Library  through  its  Board 
of  Library  Directors,  to  establish  a  County  Library  system  and  to  work 
under  Section  12  of  the  County  Library  Law,  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
of  California  having  passed  a  law  April,  1909,  permitting  such  co-operation. 
Twelve  thousand  dollars  was  given  for  the  first  year's  work.     In  November, 

1911,  a  new  contract  was  agreed  upon  whereby  the  work  would  be  enlarged 
and  the  added  sum  of  $250  a  month  was  given,  making  $15,000  a  year.  The 
same  contract  was  continued  in  1912.  The  work  was  carried  on,  but  not  much 
new  work  was  started,  as  it  took  up  all  funds  to  keep  up  the  standard  of 
the  year  before.  Again  in  November,  1913,  a  new  contract  was  agreed  upon, 
and  $18,000  was  given  for  the  year.  New  branches  were  started  and  the 
service  to  the  older  branches  much  improved. 

In  1911,  the  County  Free  Library  Law  was  amended,  and  we  are  now 
working  under  Section  16  of  this  law.  The  only  important  change  was  the 
adding  of  the  phrase  "Including  incorporated  cities  and  towns  therein." 

We  have  now  eighteen  branches  with  reading  rooms.  These  include  the 
libraries  placed  in  Livermore,  Hayward,  and  Pleasanton  town  libraries.  The 
reading  rooms  are  well  supplied  with  the  current  magazines  and  daily  papers, 
and  are  open,  in  most  cases,  every  afternoon  and  evening  but  one.  En- 
cyclopedias have  been  placed  in  the  larger  branches,  also  other  reference 
books.  The  farmers'  bulletins  from  the  Government  and  important  docu- 
ments from  the  University  of  California  are  received. 

There  are  two  or  three  prints  on  the  walls  of  even  our  smallest  branches. 
Labels  have  been  made  for  the  frames  of  these  pictures,  to  hold  a  slip,  ex- 
plaining the  pictures  and  giving  the  artist's  name  and  title  of  picture.  There 
are  between  three  and  four  thousand  stereographic  views  in  the  County 
system  and  these  are  all  in  each  of  the  branches  at  some  time  during  the 
year.  Two  stereoscopes  to  be  used  with  these  views  remain  in  each  branch. 
The  stereographs  are  an  important  feature  of  the  library  work,  the  subjects 
being  so  varied.  All  important  countries  of  the  world  are  represented  by  sets 
of  about  one  hundred  views.  Then  there  are  sets  on  the  industries  of  the  coun- 
tries, sets  on  natural  history,  and  one  on  battleships.  The  people  who  do  not  care 
to  read,  come  to  the  branch  to  look  at  these  stereographs.  Teachers  use 
them  in  connection  with  their  geography  work  in  the  schools.  Panama  and 
Mexico  are  in  the  greatest   demand  at  present. 

We  found  the  radioptican  purchased  the  year  before  had  proved  so  sat- 
isfactory that  we  decided  to  add  to  this  department.     So  a  balopticon  was 

5 


purchased.     This   is  much  like  the  radioptican,   but  we  felt  possibly  a  little 
in  advance  in  results. 

These  machines  with  instructions  for  their  use  are  sent  out  to  the  branches 
to  remain  for  a  few  weelis.  Post  cards  in  sets  are  sent  also,  which  the  ma- 
cliines  reflect  and  enlarge.  Someone  in  the  community  is  always  found 
who  is  willing  to  explain  the  cards  and  make  the  evenings  enjoyable.  These 
picture-evening  entertainments  are  open  to  every  one,  though  they  are  almost 
too  modest  to  be  called  entertainments. 

Some  fourteen  colored  Berlin  prints  have  been  purchased  for  the  County. 
These  will  be  sent  from  branch  to  branch  so  the  entire  County  may  enjoy 
them. 

A  branch  was  established  at  Albany  in  Decemlser.  The  people  of  the 
community  rented  the  room  on  Main  Street  and  furnished  the  tables,  chairs 
and  book  cases.  The  room  is  very  attractive,  the  attendance  and  circulation 
satisfactory.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  SI  Hanxllton  is  the  efficient  attendant.  Her 
knowledge  of  people  and  books  makes  her  a  valuable  addition  to  our  County 
staff.  The  town  trustees  pay  $5  a  month  toward  buying  books,  and  show 
in  many  ways  their  interest  in  their  new  library. 

A  branch  was  opened  in  Dublin,  May  21st.  The  library  occupies  a  room 
in  the  store  facing  the  main  road.  Mr.  Green,  the  owner  of  the  'building,  had 
burlap  put  on  the  walls  and  a  window  and  door  put  in  so  that  the  library 
is  quite  an  attractive  place.  MJrs.  Lawrence  is  the  attendant.  Here,  as  in 
every  library  we  have  started,  we  had  a  public  opening.  The  people  came 
from  all  about  in  numbers,  until  we  wondered  where  they  had  all  come 
from. 

For  some  time  we  had  a  deposit  of  books  at  Alviso  school  attended  to 
by  the  principal.  This  did  very  well,  but  we  decided  in  June  to  make  it  a 
regular  branch  library,  so  we  have  a  room  in  the  home  of  Mrs.  Frank 
George.  This  room  is  open  to  the  street  and  is  used  only  for  the  library. 
Mrs.  George  is  the  attendant.  The  district  is  quite  thickly  settled  and  we 
expect  will  make  good  use  of  the  books  and  the  reading  room.  Mr. 
Greene  spoke  at  the  opening  here,  as  he  did  at  the  opening  at  Albany. 

Mrs.  Runckel,  the  attendant  at  Niles,  resigned  in  July  and  Mrs.  Nichols 
was  appointed  to  fill  the  place.  Mrs.  Nichols'  work  has  been  most  satis- 
factory, as  the  steady  growth  of  the  Niles  library  shows. 

The  library  at  Irvington  moved  into  new  rooms  in  March.  Formerly  we 
had  one  large  room,  too  large  to  heat  or  light  properly.  The  present  place  is 
next  door  and  is  better  adapted  to  the  library  needs.  We  have  two  rooms 
and  better  lighting.  The  quarters  at  San  Lorenzo  became  so  crowded  that 
it  was  necessary  to  move  to  a  larger  room  in  the  same  building,  the  village 
hall.  The  reading  room  is  generally  well  filled  with  magazine  and  news- 
paper readers  both  afternoons  and  evenings.  The  circulation  from  here  is 
larger  than  any  other  branch  of  its  size  in  the  County. 

In  Alvarado  we  were  fortunate  in  having  a  vacant  room  next  to  our 
library  room.     The  partition  was  taken  down,  making  it  one  large  room. 

Meetings  of  the  attendants  have  been  held  in  the  County  Library  office 
in  Oakland.  At  these  meetings  we  talk  over  and  work  out  the  problems 
that  are  always  present.     We  plan  new  work  and  criticise  the  work  done. 

6 


The  work  with  the  County  Jail  has  grrown  during  the  past  year.  We 
have  a  messenger  service  twice  a  week.  The  prisoners  make  their  requests 
and  the  boy  fills  them  from  the  Oakland  Library.  There  is  no  collection  of 
books  in  the  jail.  We  continue  to  borrow  books  from  the  State  Library  for 
the  Law  Library,  whenever  lawyers  of  Alameda  County  require  material 
not  in  the  County.  Books  ready  for  discard  have  been  sent  out  every  month 
to  the  County  Infirmary,  to  be  read  there  and  then  burned  at  the  discretion 
of  the  attending  doctor.  A  few  phonograph  records  have  been  sent  to  Alta- 
mont  on  their  request,  as  they  had  a  machine  in  the  community  which 
they  could  use.  Altamont  has  no  electricity,  so  could  not  have  the  benefit 
of  the  radioptican  and  the  records  were  sent  to  make  up  for  this  loss. 

Some  work  has  been  done  with  Alameda  and  Berkeley  in  the  way  of 
supplying  special  books,  and  in  Alameda  in  the  loaning  of  pictures. 

Post  cards  with  the  map  of  Alameda  County  on  the  back  have  been 
printed  for  use  in  correspondence.  The  map  shows  the  location  of  the 
libraries  and  gives  a  few  figures. 

The  County  Library  had  a  booth  at  the  Alameda  County  fair  last  year 
and  this  year  plans  to  be  represented. 

The  circulation  of  books  in  the  County  has  been  steadily  increasing, 
amounting  to  about  one  thousand  a  month  more  than  last  year.  The  special 
requests  coming  from  our  people  and  from  other  libraries  in  the  State,  have 
been  very  large.  We  have  been  able  to  fill  these  requests  from  our  library, 
the  Oakland  Library,  and  the  State  Library. 

The  problem  of  properly  housing  our  libraries  will  need  to  be  considered 
in  the  near  future.  The  present  rooms  in  many  cases  are  too  small.  With 
larger  space  better  work  can  be  done.  We  hope  to  find  the  people  of  the 
towns  ready  to  help  when  the  time  comes. 

The  County  Library  in  California  has  well  passed  the  experimental 
stage,  and  has  become  a  strong  factor  in  the  twenty- six  counties  in  which 
it  is  working,  many  of  the  counties  growing  in  a  remarkable  way.  Los 
Angeles,  for  instance,  last  year  received  $40,000  for  the  county  work  and  this 
year  expects  to  nearly  double  that  amount. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

MARY   BARMBY, 
Chief  of  Department. 


STATISTICS 


Number  of  borrowers — established   branches 

Number  of  borrowers — County  at  large 

Total  number  of  books  sent  to  stations 

Circulation  of  stations  

Total  number  of  books  sent  to  schools 

Total  number  of  books  in  office 


.  3,689 
.  1,159 
.12,992 
.66,529 
.  1,020 
.    1.354 


Count  of  bound  volumes,  July  6,  1913. 
Accessions — 

By  purchase    

By  gift    


4,667 
227 


Discarded 
Lost     .... 


35 
36 


Borrowed  from  Teachers'  Library.  .  . 
Total  bound  volumes,  July,  1914. 


10,444 


4,894 
15.338 


71 


15,267 
.       122 


.15,389 


Branches —  Date  of  Opening. 

Albany Dec.  4,  1913 

Altamont   April  2,  1912 

Alvarado    Dec.    7,    1910 

Centerville   Dec.  2,  1910 

Decoto   Dec.  11,   1910 

Dublin May  21.  1914 

Irvington   April  4.  1911 

Mission  San  Jose. Dec.  10,1910 

Mt.  Eden Feb.  1,  1911 

Newark Sept.  4,  1911 

Niles   Feb.  2.  1911 

San  Lorenzo Dec.  1.  1910 

Sunol Dec.  9,  1910 

Warm  Springs Feb.  20,  1912 

Deposit  Stations — 

Alviso   Feb.  27.  1911 

Hayward   April  12,  1911 

Liverm.ore   Sept..  1911 

Pleasanton   May  29,  1911 

Request  Books — 

County  Jail July,  1911 

San  Leandro  

Inter-Library 


Borrowers. 

235 
102 
193 
291 
246 

33 
161 

78 
125 
164 
459 
305 
108 

73 


53 

457 
464 
136 


Books. 

761 

406 
1,060 
1.199 

765 

144 

765 

710 

755 

904 
1.099 
1.113 

674 

400 


100 

789 

727 
644 


Borrowers — County  at  large. 
Books  in  office  and  schools. 


3689  13,015 

1159 

2,374 


Circulation 
Books.        Mags. 


3,206 
1,513 

2,775 
4,805 
2,508 


305 

810 

1,606 

1,936 

484 


(no  report) 


2,683 
2,191 
1,523 
3,258 
8,256 
4,852 
i.985 
916 


343 

6,037 
5,142 
2,361 


481 

238 

41 

55,114 


139 

1,132 

52 

480 
1,848 
1,163 
1.110 

131 


97 


120 


11.415 


4,848 


15,389 


55,114 


11,416 


Bnqulrer 


I        Gaylamount 
Pamphlet 
Binder 
Gaylord  Bros.,  Inc. 

Stockton,  Calif. 
T.M.  Reg.  U.S.  Pat.  Off. 


M110723 


On 


C0B2 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  UBRARY 


